NEW YORK ― It was somewhere in between Travis Snider’s first and second double of the fifth inning when the wheels had fallen off the tattered starter.

With each fastball, sinker or knuckle curve, A.J. Burnett would complete the then-routine quarter turn to right field or left, wherever the last line drive happened to land, and watch as his ERA continued to rise.

In the 8-6 Yankees loss to the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at Yankee Stadium, Burnett -- now 9-9 with an ERA just under 5 -- was pummeled, surrendering eight earned runs off eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. Just 58 of his 95 pitches landed inside the strike zone.

"For any of our pitchers to go out like that, that's going to surprise me," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He wasn't able to make the pitches."

The 47,034 on hand here at Yankee Stadium hoping to catch a glimpse at Alex Rodriguez’s entry into the 600 home-run club saw a less formidable piece of Pinstripes’ history. The six doubles allowed by Burnett and Sergio Mitre in a disastrous fifth inning tied a major league record. The seven runs in that same inning tied a season high.

The loss was the team’s fifth in 11 games and drops them into a tie with Tampa Bay.

Rodriguez finished the night 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and three groundouts.

"It's obvious, it's inevitable to think about (No. 600)," Rodriguez said. "The idea is to think small. You know, it's a 25-man roster and I just have to do my part."

A two-run home run in the fifth by Mark Teixeira (No. 22) and an RBI single from Lance Berkman in the sixth put the Yankees within striking distance, at 8-5, before Blue Jays reliever Scott Downs spelled Brandon Morrow to stomp the comeback.

Newly acquired Austin Kearns had two runners on in the bottom of the eighth but struck out looking on a David Purcey slider.

Nick Swisher gave the Yankees an early lead, blasting a Morrow fastball over the fence in center for a two-run home run.

But a string of eight unanswered for Toronto quickly dampened a night of mounting optimism in New York. First, it was Vernon Wells in the second, popping a Burnett fastball just over the short fence in right.

Then came the fireworks in the fifth. Snider doubled. Edwin Encarnacion homered to left. Jose Molina walked. Hits sprayed into the Yankee outfield while the Blue Jay offense remained in constant rotation around the base paths.

"They made an adjustment on me that inning," Burnett said. "Singles are alright but extra base hits and homers, they'll take you out of a game."

By the time Snider had come up for a second time, Burnett was gone, Mitre was in on relief. But by then, it didn’t matter. Like he had eight batters before, Snider doubled again, this time scoring Aaron Hill.